A WINTER BATH IN FINLAND.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXIX, Issue 7815, 7 June 1909, Page 1

A WINTER BATH IN FINLAND.

.•;■ . • .'.:.•■ "."a%- : \ —~ ■■ ■. In the course, of an article on "Life m Northernmost Finland which he contributes to', the current number ot " Travel and Exploration,". Mr Knud Rasmusseh, the Danish explorer, describes the way m which tn^.'J^nnish peasants take a bath m winter : We pulled off our clothes msfc|^Jn the general' room, and stalke9^;<^-^ Gnolna, 1.: aii /bid ptarmigan hu*t|§£v Kulimenen, and I —into the-enow and a temperature of 36 degrees below zeroA light breeze was blowing from the north, and. the- icy wind was like a cold . suit, of mail round our naked bodies. ; . ■'■. ... .• i The bathroom was a hundred yards or so away, from the house. It was a little shed' of r.ough. boards, and had a stove m it built into the wall with stones. A huge fire was burning, and when-we threw cold water on the stones there rose from them clouds of hot steam ■ithit ; made us ga§p ior breath. .._ Along: the wall were raised shelves on which'"we could lie and pant, while the snovy dripped down, on our steaming bodies. The temperature was 145 degrees. Suddenly Guolna sprang up, flung the door^wide opeii, aiid leaped out into the snow*. I was drowsy with ■the heat, and half fancied - some man had jumped over a precipice. What was happening' to Guolna. ?, I could not see. A' rush of cold air filled, the room and almost took my breath away. Then I, too, sprang up and ran out. And, behold, there was Guolna swimming vigorously m the snow, like: a white Whale cutting through the water. <:Ho ! .ho' I;'! he shouted; "come on ! come on 1"' , ' , After lying half, an hour on .our shelves m the boiling heat inside, with muscles relaxed, we now stood naked m ji- temperature of 36 degrees below zero. , ' ' N^ver, m my whole life, have I experienced such a ; delightful; muscular seusjation/as. when, urged by a frolicsonife whim',, 1 made off barefooted and naked over the fi'bzen fields' of snow. Guolna laughed and? followed, and, like two swift' Greek runners, we dashed on: through the cold and. dark. The 3now beneath our feet did not feel cold at<all, and we ran, under the Northern Lights, like two ghosts, scarcely torching the ground. ■ ■ • We took a leap upwards, :and with outstretched arms ploughed- side ; by side into a huge freshly-formed snowr drift. We swam, laughing, out of [the ?oft snow, and even before.' we ■wfere fully - cool again, found ourselves back m the bathroom, where old Kuhmejien was up fire and steam. ; We£lay down on- our shelves again for &;|few' miiiutes, rubbed, the perspiration from bur hodies with snow, and ;frhe bath was over.